Sochi was instantly forgettable of course, even more so having just watched Icarus - an expose of the alleged Russian doping of some of its athletes competing at the games.

GB has won a surprising 21 medals at the Winter Olympics since they started in 1924. Golds in figure skating, ice hockey and curling have been supplemented with silvers and bronzes in bobsleigh, figure skating, skeleton and curling.

The women's team that won the Gold in curling in Salt Lake City in 2002 came as no surprise to a former work colleague, combining, in his opinion, the two standout skills of the distaff side; throwing things and mopping. Yep; he is divorced and does now live alone.

Who can forget Torvill and Dean winning Gold in Sarajevo and the nation itself winning the world "Holding your breath" Gold by watching them, willing Jane or Christopher not to fall over and the judges not to have been knobbled to give the high marks to another pair.

Remarkably, we won the ice hockey in 1936. The Games were held in Nazi Germany that year with the winter events being held in Garmisch-Partenkirche which as Nicolas Howe wrote were two Bavaria villages separated by a hyphen and a small stream.

Our ice hockey squad of thirteen were all born in Britain, apart from one, but virtually all of them had been raised in Canada and had played ice hockey there. In a strangely formatted tournament, we beat all the hot favourites and ran out Gold medal winners after 8 matches.

Say Winter Olympics to me though and I immediately think of Eddie the Eagle; a ski jumper that epitomises the very best of British sport; immensely brave, totally fearless but never likely to make the podium. Plenty of athletes are now though, lottery money has seen to that.

Sometimes though, I miss the old days.

The 23rd Olympic Winter Games are being held in PyeongChang, South Korea, between 9-25 February 2018.

If you thought that the views of the mountains were great on skis, just imagine how much better they would be if you could fly like a bird!

Well, imagine no longer.

Many of the peaks in La Plagne are home to companies that offer Parapente flights.

Air La Plagne, based at the Grand Rochette, is one such company.

You can be airborne for a modest 70 Euros. This will get you a short introductory flight, lasting about five minutes and descending 500m. Strapped to your pilot, you ski down the slope and are soon airborne and as free as a bird.

Splash the cash a little more and you can have a “Sensation” flight for 100 Euros, whilst the ‘Vol Prestige’ is just 30 Euros more and will give you the twists and turns of the full parapente experience.

And if you really want to go large, the ‘Adrenaline’ flight will see you as “The King or Queen of La Plagne” flying from the top of the Grand Rochette to the valley floor. A taxi is waiting to whisk you back to resort. Fabulous!

So, why not take a look at the weather forecast, pick a bluebird day and get airborne!

Newsletter Signup

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name *

Last Name *

Ice and Fire will use the information you provide here to send regular marketing emails containing information, offers and reductions which we think are likely to be of interest to you. You can change your mind at any time by clicking unsubscribe at the bottom of the emails or by emailing sales@ice-fire.co.uk